Staying Focused During an Internal Medicine Residency

Written By: Rachael Kaine

Struggling Through Your Internal Medicine Residency?

Years of medical school should have prepared you for sleepless nights, heavy workloads and disgruntled or stubborn patients. Even though this is true, the time you spend in a residency is going to be unlike anything you’ve experienced before, as it is meant to be the final step before allowing you to practice on your own as a licensed medical professional. The stress, anxiety and desire to be done and free to practice are natural feelings, but there’s really nothing that can be done in order to make the time go by faster except to understand that your internal medicine residency will, in fact come to an end, leaving you with the experience and preparation that you need to be a successful medical practitioner.

Things to Remember During an Internal Medicine Residency

- Stay focused by allowing yourself some “me” time. This might sound like common sense, but many residents are consumed by the need to study and work so that they can stay ahead of their assignments, forgetting to take a necessary break. This break time can be something as simple as treating yourself to a nap in the middle of the day when possible, or taking yourself out for a nice meal - even buying yourself a small gift like a new pair of shoes or a coat that you’ve had your eye on. Appreciate the small things, and take some time to give yourself a breather in order to step away from your busy schedule.

- Make the most of your surroundings. Some people will be able to reset and recharge by giving themselves an hour or two a week to take in the city or area that their residency is located in. An internal medicine residency program Baltimore offers residents the chance to explore the coast, visit the nation’s capital and experience beautiful scenery and a plethora of different types of people. Since your residency program will take multiple years, becoming familiar and comfortable with your surroundings is a great way to relax and make the program feel less like a chore and more like actual life.

- It’s ok to ask questions; you’re never going to be truly on your own. During an internal medicine residency Baltimore, you’ll be given the opportunity to work on your own and make decisions,but there’s always going to be a senior resident or an actual hospital employee’s watchful eye on you. This gives you a chance to become confident in your skills, but at the same time, gives you a reference point if you need it. Asking questions is the only way to learn, and it’s better if you get clarification rather than make a mistake, which takes a great deal of pressure off of you.

Choosing a Cardiology Fellowship

Written By: Rachael Kaine

What is a Cardiology Fellowship?

The only difference between a cardiology fellowship and other fellowships is that cardiology focuses on the heart’s function within the body. Though many people think that a residency program is the final step in the medical school marathon, those who wish to continue on into a specialty field must complete a fellowship program after their residency. During this time spent in a fellowship, you’ll be acting as either an attending or consulting physician, but always under direct supervision. Treatments, appointments and, even in some cases, procedures will be performed, giving fellows more hands on experience in their specialty field, ensuring that they’re properly prepared to do the real thing without supervision once the fellowship has been completed. While this is truly the final step in becoming a cardiology specialist in a specific field of the profession, there are further learning possibilities if you choose to participate in them, as well as continued learning requirements that you must complete in order to stay on top of changes in the field, both in terms of knowledge and available options.

Why a Cardiology Fellowship?

Like with all fields of medicine, there are different specialty areas that can be focused on during a cardiology fellowship Georgetown. Each organization that offers a fellowship program places emphasis on different parts of the field, allowing participants to choose which areas they want to focus on. For a cardiology fellowship, many people choose to practice general cardiology, but there are other options like surgery, cardiovascular perfusion, transplant and anesthesia fellowships.

Each of these options give you a chance to choose your own path; the years of medical school before your fellowship will prepare you with all of the general skills you’ll need to become a successful medical professional, but the final years of the fellowship will solidify your skills and abilities. Cardiology is a respected and necessary field, and having as many qualified professionals as possible ready and willing to assist patients is absolutely necessary.

Cardiology fellowship DC programs are designed to give participants a chance to experience everything that they’ll have to deal with during their careers like lab work, hands on patient experiences, procedure completion, and patient consultation, just to name a few. These clinical rotations will take place over the course of just about two years, giving you ample time to become more comfortable with the procedures and practices you’ll be performing. The idea of this type of program is to provide you with all of the tools you’ll need to become the best you can be, providing quality and necessary health care to any patient that walks through the doors of your office, no matter what their condition or medical needs.

Advice for Emergency Medicine Residency Applicants

Written By: Rachael Kaine

Getting Into Emergency Medicine Residency Programs

The first step in completing an emergency medicine residency is finding out more about the programs that are offered at various facilities around the country. In order to do so, there are multiple places that you can look. Brochures, websites (http://www.medstarhealth.org/), visiting campuses - all of these are options, but one of the most useful is going online and finding reviews and experiences that have been shared by past participants on message boards, blogs and even in some cases medical professional networking sites. This will give you a better idea what you should prepare for before you begin your studies, and give you a chance to make as informed a decision as is possible.

After selecting the programs that you want to apply to, you should begin to get your application together. This includes getting a photograph taken to include with the packet, filling in all required information in an appropriate manner and writing a personal statement. This application is the first contact that you will have with your potential residency program, making it absolutely necessary to take a good amount of time ensuring that it is as perfect as it can be. With your application to an EM residency Washington DC, you’ll also need to include letters of recommendation from the faculty members that you have worked closely with in the past - an emphasis placed on using emergency medicine personnel if you have any.

Interviewing for an Emergency Medicine Residency Program

After you have chosen the programs and have been asked to interview with one or more of them, you’ll need to prepare for these first face to face encounters. Many people recommend scheduling the interview for the program that you’d like to get into the most last; this way, you’ll have the prior experience of interviewing out of the way and and be more prepared and comfortable with whatever it is that they will ask. This is useful, because despite interviewing in many different places, a lot of the questions will be similar, giving you time to carefully construct and think about your answers a little more each time they are asked.

Many applicants make a huge mistake and interview at too few locations. Not only does this limit the likelihood of getting into a program, but it also makes it more possible that you will make fewer initial connections. There is a huge difference between getting into a third or fourth choice program and not getting accepted at all, so that’s important to consider when thinking the application process through. This is an incredibly competitive field, so waiting a year and applying again is not always a viable option for an emergency medicine residency program Washington DC.

What is a Family Medicine Residency Like?

Written by: Rachael Kaine

Beginning a Family Medicine Residency

As it is the final step necessary in order to become a licensed medical practitioner, a family medicine residency will require you to choose this as a specialty area of focus. The residency programs involve learning various skills and abilities that will be necessary to treat people of all ages in an office environment for a variety of conditions. The time spent in a residency will include time spent actively working with and on patients as well as coming up with the best ways to interact with peers and superiors; it’s all about being well rounded and experienced. The first few weeks or months can be quite the adjustment period, but over time, you’ll settle into the perfect routine to get you through.

What You’ll Learn During a Family Medicine Residency

The most important thing to remember about this type of program is that for the most part, this field will simply treat an assortment of bodily conditions that can impact the lives of people throughout their life stages. Patients will range from children to the elderly, suffering from conditions as simple as an ear infection to things as complex as chronic and recurring pain. Not all family medicine practitioners will be required to do the same things as they practice, and much of the medical community is in agreement that this is a very regionally specific profession, and those practicing in Arkansas will be faced with different situations than a doctor in New York; it all depends on the surrounding population.

After Completing a Family Medicine Residency

A Franklin family medicine residency Baltimore will allow you the opportunity to choose the specifics of your practice, and focus on becoming the type of doctor you would like to be. As each family medicine doctor is slightly different in nature, this career is extremely flexible. Doctors can choose to work alone in a private practice or in a group setting, and even after that, there are many different choices to be made. This flexibility offers you the ability to model your practice as you see fit; outpatient or inpatient only, a mixture of both, working in an academic setting, treating military employees; the options are vast, and it’s up to you to pick the best one.

Your career is ultimately up to you, and it will be what you make of it. Though this field is not as exciting or unpredictable as that of an emergency medical doctor or a surgeon, it is just as fulfilling and necessary, and millions of people each year need the guidance, expertise and care of people like you that choose to complete a family medicine residency in order to follow their dream medical career path.

Preparing For A General Surgery Residency

Written by: Rachael Kaine

Deciding That You Want to Complete a General Surgery Residency

Before beginning (or even choosing!) a general surgery residency Washington DC, there are some things that you should carefully consider. A surgical career isn’t the right choice for everyone, but completing your first few years of medical school will certainly put you on the right path. Some things to think about include :

- Knowing that you appreciate working with a team
- Having the ability to work and think on your feet and without hesitation
- Enjoying the idea of taking on responsibility and problem solving
- Enjoying learning new skills, gaining new abilities and feeling confident about the choices and decisions that you made for your patients

Though this isn’t an extensive list, it’s one that may convince you to take the next steps and begin a general surgery residency in the nation’s capital.

Finding the Right General Surgery Residency For You

While most general surgery residency programs operate on the same ideas, not all of them are exactly the same. In order to find and choose one that will resonate and agree with you personally, you’ll need to do some research. This means looking into what each program offers and expects, comparing lengths of time spent in specific rotations and areas, and figuring out what type of environment you’d like to work in. Larger cities like Washington DC offer residents the chance to work in a variety of facilities with a huge number of different patients, making it possible to experience many different procedures and patient stories in a short period of time.

Being a surgeon is a huge deal. Not only do you get to physically help people overcome health obstacles within their lives, you’ll get to see the outcomes. This means that there is a need for people of all types that are willing and able to complete the training to become licensed and skilled surgeons across the country. Your experiences during a surgery residency Georgetown will prepare you for a long and enriching career working with patients and learning from peers, and it can be learned about by visiting http://www.medstarhealth.org/education/affiliated-hospitals-2/medstar-washington-hospital-center/general-surgery-residency/.

Surgeons may always seem busy, but the truth is that this specialty area is no more demanding than others; after completing a residency and obtaining your medical license, you will have the ability to find (or create) a position that will allow you to work exactly as you wish - and for as long as you want.

Adrain Kantrowitz: Cardiology Fellowship Graduate

Written by: Sharon Cretsinger

Cardiology has to be one of the most difficult and sought after specialties within the field of medicine.  Individuals who have completed medical school and other prescribed academic and professional requirements may go on to a program such as the cardiovascular disease fellowship Georgetown as an entrance to this specialty.  Some physicians even go on to become very famous after completing a cardiology fellowship.

Pediatric Cardiology

Dr. Adrian Kantrowitz was a physician and surgeon who became very well known for his work in pediatric cardiology.  Perhaps the defining event of his career was performing the first pediatric heart transplant ever, in 1967.  It was the second ever heart transplant in the world.  In addition to having performed this groundbreaking surgery, he also invented a medical device called the intra-aortic balloon pump.  This invention would serve as the basis for the development of the modern pacemaker which is so important to the wellness of so many heart patients today.

Dr. Kantrowitz was born in New York City in 1918 and was interested in medicine from early childhood, perhaps owing to the fact that his father was also a doctor.  He graduated from the Long Island College of Medicine in 1943, successfully completing an accelerated program intended to alleviate the shortage of doctors available to serve in World War II.

During the war, Dr. Kantrowitz was a surgeon in Europe and Japan.  Upon returning to the United States, he pursued surgical training at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York.  Much of his career throughout the 1950's and 1960's centered around research intended to assist in the design of bioelectronic devices.  He implanted the first artificial pacemaker in a patient in 1961.

Dr. Kantrowitz was instrumental in pioneering heart transplants for surgeons all over the world.  His work has saved countless lives; and, he subsequently received many well-deserved awards, honors and academic appointments.  Doctors who may be interested in following him into the field of cardiology will have to complete a cardiovascular fellowship Washington DC or elsewhere http://www.medstarhealth.org/.

Internal Medicine Residency Specialties

Written by: Sara Loch

After graduating medical school, a doctor’s training continues with a residency.  Residents get hands-on training, often caring for their own patients under the direct supervision of a board-certified doctor.  Different types of residencies prepare participants for different medical specializations.  Those who would like to focus on treatment, diagnosis, and prevention of adult diseases will often do an internal medicine residency.  This can help to prepare residents to become general practitioners, or they can choose an internal medicine subspecialty.  Internal medicine residency Baltimore subspecialties include cardiology, gastroenterology, dermatology, and endocrinology.  

You can learn about applying for an internal medicine residency program Baltimore at http://medstarhealth.org/education/affiliated-hospitals-2/medstar-union-memorial-hospital/internal-medicine-residency.

Common internal medicine residency Baltimore sub-specialties

Cardiology is defined as the branch of medicine that deals with diseases and abnormalities of the heart.  This encompasses a broad spectrum of conditions, and cardiologists require further, specialized training after their internal medicine residency Baltimore.  Heart disease is one of our country’s most serious health problems, and according to the American Heart Association, is the leading cause of death.  Those who specialize in cardiology will spend their internal medicine residency Baltimore and other training learning not only how to treat heart disease, but also how to help prevent it.

Gastroenterology specializes in the gastrointestinal tract and liver.  The gastrointestinal tract is responsible for digestion, absorbing nutrients, and expelling waste.  Those who specialize in gastroenterology after their internal medicine residency program Baltimore will have to be expertly familiar with many organs, including: the stomach, small intestine, large intestine, and every structure between the mouth and the anus.

Dermatology is the study of skin conditions and diseases.  Your skin is your largest organ, and because it is exposed to the environment it is vulnerable to growths, rashes, cysts, burns, injuries, infections, and other disorders.  A dermatologist might choose to start with an internal medicine residency Baltimore, but they will also need intensive residency training in dermatology.

An endocrinologist specializes in the treatment of hormonal conditions.  Your body uses hormones to control metabolism, energy levels, reproduction, growth, development, and response to injury and stress.  In medical practice, endocrinology is often linked with the study of diabetes and metabolism, or with the study of reproductive medicine and infertility.